How long does it take to build a custom website in Egypt?
Most YMS Studio projects go from kickoff to live in 6 to 12 weeks, depending on scope. A marketing site is faster; a custom internal system with booking or a client portal takes longer. We give a fixed timeline before we start, and we build in-house — so there's no agency hand-off delay.
Do you build bilingual Arabic and English websites?
Yes. Every site can be fully bilingual — Arabic (RTL) and English (LTR) — built natively, not auto-translated. Layout, typography, and the booking or portal flows all flip correctly for each language, so Egyptian and Gulf customers get a site that reads as if it were made for them.
Will I own the website and the code?
Yes — you own your code outright from day one. There's no monthly licence trapping you, no proprietary builder you can't leave. Hosting is on your own account. If you ever want to move or hire another team, everything is yours and fully documented.
What internal systems can YMS Studio build?
Online booking systems, patient and client portals, multi-branch dashboards, CRMs, ERPs, and custom operations tools. We built the case-management portal behind one of Egypt's largest IP & trademark firms — 17,000+ records, four years live with zero outages. If your business runs on spreadsheets and WhatsApp, we replace them with one system.
Do you work with clinics, real estate, or e-commerce?
Yes. We build booking and patient portals for clinics, buyer portals and sales CRMs for real-estate developers, and full stores for e-commerce brands. The common thread: operators who've outgrown templates and need a system that matches how their business actually runs.
What makes YMS Studio different from other Cairo web agencies?
Everything is hand-built in-house — no templates, no outsourcing, no junior hand-off. You work directly with the founder. And we don't just build a website; we build the internal systems behind it. That's why clients who've outgrown template builders come to us.
How much does a custom website cost in Egypt?
There's no fixed price list — a one-page marketing site, a bilingual e-commerce store, and a multi-branch booking system are completely different builds, so each project is priced to its actual scope. What moves the number: the number of pages, the language, e-commerce and payment, and any custom system or portal behind the site. The first step is free — we send a tailored mockup, then scope it on a quick call. No obligation, no anchor pricing.
Should I hire a freelancer or a web design agency in Egypt?
Freelancers are cheaper but can disappear mid-project; big agencies hand you to a junior and bill for the brand name. YMS Studio is a third option — you work directly with the founder who builds your project, so you get a freelancer's focus with an agency's reliability and a four-year track record behind it. Nothing is outsourced, nothing is templated.
Do you build on WordPress or a custom-coded website?
We build custom-coded, not WordPress or a drag-and-drop template. That means a site that loads faster, can't be broken by a plugin update, and does exactly what your business needs instead of bending your business to fit a theme. If you've outgrown a WordPress or Wix template, that's usually why people come to us.
Can you redesign or rebuild my existing website?
Yes — redesigns and rebuilds are a big part of what we do. We keep what's working (your content, your rankings, your brand), fix what isn't, and rebuild it custom-coded and search-ready so you don't lose SEO in the move. Common reasons people call: a slow site, a dated look, or a template they've outgrown.
Can you build an online store with local payment in Egypt?
Yes. We build full e-commerce stores wired to the gateways Egyptian customers actually use — Paymob, Fawry, InstaPay, and card payments — plus cash on delivery and local shipping. You get a store you own outright, not a per-sale platform fee draining your margin.
Can I update the website content myself after launch?
Yes. Where you need to change things often — products, prices, listings, blog posts, booking slots — we build a simple admin panel so you can edit content yourself, without touching code or calling us. Anything more structural, we're a message away, and because you own the code any developer can pick it up.
Who handles hosting, security, backups, and maintenance?
Your site lives on your own hosting account — you're never locked into ours. We set it up with an SSL certificate, backups, and security hardening at launch, and offer an optional care plan for updates and monitoring afterward. Because you own the code and the accounts, you're never held hostage for a fix.
Will my website be fast and work on mobile?
Yes. Every site is built mobile-first and tuned for Core Web Vitals — most Egyptian traffic is on phones, and Google ranks fast, mobile-friendly sites higher. We test down to a 375px screen and on real connections, so it stays quick whether your customer is on fibre or 4G.
Do you work with clients outside Egypt?
Yes. We're based in Cairo and work with clients across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and worldwide. The entire process — mockup, build, reviews, launch — runs remotely, and bilingual Arabic/English delivery makes us a natural fit for the Gulf market.
Do you offer SEO?
Yes. Every site ships search-ready — fast, mobile-first, and structured for both Google and AI search engines (so you can be cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews), with schema, clean metadata, and bilingual hreflang for Arabic and English.
Why do I need a website if I have a Facebook or Instagram page?
Because a social page is rented, not owned. Meta controls the audience, the reach, and the rules — and an Egyptian business can lose a page it spent years building overnight, with no appeal and no way to export its customers. A website is an asset you own outright: your domain, your data, your Google rankings, and a checkout or booking flow no algorithm can throttle. Social brings the attention; the website is the home you actually own — and where the sale happens.
Is a custom website better than Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify?
For a serious business in Egypt, yes. Template builders start fast but you rent them forever — a monthly fee, limits on what you can change, slower performance, and a site that looks like thousands of others. A custom-coded site is owned outright, loads faster, ranks better, and does exactly what your business needs. Builders are fine to validate an idea; once the business depends on the site, owning a custom build removes the monthly tax and the lock-in.
What's the difference between web design and web development?
Web design is how the site looks and feels — layout, branding, typography, and the user experience. Web development is how it's built and what it does — the code, the database, integrations like Fawry or Paymob, and any system behind it such as a booking flow or portal. A freelancer often does only one; YMS does both in-house, so the design that's approved is exactly what gets built, with nothing lost in a hand-off.
How do I get my website to rank on Google in Egypt?
Three things compound: a technically sound, fast, mobile-first site; genuinely useful content built around what your customers search (in Arabic and English); and authority earned over time through links and citations. We ship every site search-ready — clean structure, schema, bilingual hreflang, fast Core Web Vitals — and can build the content and local-SEO foundation that lets it climb. Competitive terms take months, not days, so we target the specific, high-intent searches your buyers actually use first.
Is Wix bad for SEO?
Wix <b>can</b> rank, but it fights you: heavier, slower code, limited control over technical SEO, and the same rigid structure on every site — so on competitive terms you start at a disadvantage. That said, the bigger reason most small sites don't rank isn't the platform, it's <b>no content, no local-SEO foundation, and no backlinks</b>. If SEO is how you'll win customers, a fast custom-coded site built search-ready from day one is the safer bet.
Can I move my site off Wix or Squarespace without losing my Google rankings?
Yes — with care. Rebuild on a custom site you own and keep your rankings by <b>mapping every old URL to the new one with 301 redirects</b>, preserving your content and titles, and not dropping pages Google already ranks. Done sloppily a migration tanks your traffic; done right it usually <b>improves</b> it, because the new site is faster and cleaner. We handle the redirects and technical migration so you don't lose earned SEO.
What's the difference between owning a website and renting Wix or Shopify?
Renting (Wix, Shopify, Squarespace) means you <b>pay every month forever</b>, the platform controls what you can change, and you can't take the real site with you — you're a tenant. Owning means a one-time custom build where the <b>code, domain, data, and rankings are yours</b>; host it cheaply anywhere, no per-seat or per-sale tax. Renting is fine to test an idea — once the business depends on the site, owning is almost always cheaper over three years.
Why isn't my website showing up on Google?
Usually one of four things: it's <b>brand-new and not indexed yet</b> (give it weeks and submit it in Google Search Console); it's technically blocked or too slow; it has <b>thin content</b> that doesn't match what people search; or it has <b>no authority</b> — no other sites link to it. A pretty website alone doesn't rank. It needs to be indexed, fast, structured with the right content, and earning links over time. We build sites search-ready and can set the content + local-SEO foundation that gets you found.
How do I know if a web designer is overcharging me?
Compare the price to what you're actually getting, and watch for traps. A template site and a custom build are <b>different prices</b> — paying custom money for a template is the classic rip-off. Red flags: a vague quote with no scope, the designer registering your <b>domain or hosting in their name</b>, monthly fees that hold the site hostage, being charged for every small edit, and 'SEO' with no specifics. You should always own your code, domain, and data outright. If a quote hides any of that, ask before you pay — or walk.
How do we get started?
Tell us what you're building. We send a free, tailored mockup so you can see the idea on screen before committing, then we book a short call to scope it. From there it's a fixed timeline and a single point of contact — the founder — through to launch.